


Dumb Hick

by jane_x80



Series: Nothing Like the Sun (or Kirk's Eyes) [3]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Blue Eyes, Enemies to Friends, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-23 01:56:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11392968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_x80/pseuds/jane_x80
Summary: Uhura's thoughts on Kirk's eyes.





	Dumb Hick

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure I like this one. But I'm going to post it anyways. I like the combative/teasing relationship that Uhura and Kirk have, and I imagine it's probably hard to get over her first impression of him, to see behind the cocky façade. So this is my attempt at it, and of course, Kirk's eyes. Even Uhura isn't immune to them ;)

He had made a terrible first impression on her, coming on to her while he was obviously drunk, just some hick townie in Riverside, Iowa. A corn-fed ignorant farm boy. But even then, his eyes, those startlingly blue eyes had captured her attention as he drunkenly flirted with her.

When he had frowned thoughtfully and wrinkled his nose at her assertion that he had sex with farm animals, and countered with a naughty “not _only_ ”, he’d made her laugh. And those eyes had brightened at the sound of her laughter. She’d known what he was, a guy who was used to using his looks to get whatever he wanted, but he’d been funny, hadn’t taken himself too seriously, and he’d amused her, until the brawling began.

And when he had appeared on the shuttle to San Francisco, she could hardly believe her own chocolate brown eyes. He’d given her a wry grin, his blue eyes clear and no longer clouded by alcohol, a strange intensity behind them. Even she couldn’t deny his attractiveness then, despite the battered face. Even smashed, the previous night, he’d known what xenolinguistics was, and he was obviously not just some dumb hick who only had sex with farm animals. He wasn’t some random farm boy if Captain Pike himself had thought him worth recruiting on the spot.

When the news went around campus that George Kirk’s son, the Kelvin Baby himself had decided to attend, she realized then who he was, made the connection with his last name. And they had had a weird relationship at the Academy, comprising of him teasing her about not knowing her first name. He made it his mission in life to irritate her every chance he got, eyes flashing wickedly at her open annoyance. He slept with her Orion roommate and a whole host of other beings, human and non. Gaila told her that there was more to him than met the eye, but she didn’t believe it. It was well known that Jim Kirk was the sluttiest cadet on campus.

She remembered his languid blue eyes during the Kobayashi Maru exam, the third time Kirk sat for it. He had been arrogant and confident, crunching down on an apple during the test. And then he had beaten it. And he’d stood there, electric blue eyes triumphant, chest heaving with satisfaction as he looked up into the dark examiner’s alcove from where his performance had been judged. Something about the determination in those eyes was dangerously seductive. If Kirk wanted something, he would pursue it and he would obtain it. That’s what those eyes said.

A small, secret part of her was actually hurt that Kirk hadn’t thought that she was worth pursuing, at least not whole-heartedly. Never mind that she wasn’t interested in him, she was more into calm, cool, logical, sexy Vulcans. But still. It was the principle of it. He flirted with her, sure, but he didn’t pursue her in the way he did his other conquests. And later, when they learned that he’d messed with the programming of the Kobayashi Maru exam in order to beat it, it crossed her mind that if he was competent enough to hack _this_ exam – the one _Spock_ had programmed – then he was probably competent enough to hack the Academy roster to find out her name. Which would have deprived her of their playful games. And she wondered when it was that she started enjoying their guessing her first name game.

And those eyes, glowing and intense when he found her on the Enterprise, dressed simply in the black regulation undershirt and pants, asking her about the transmission that she’d intercepted and transcribed from Klingon space. How he had even remembered what she’d said when he was hiding under Gaila’s bed, she didn’t know. Even though he was going through physical oddities due to his now infamous allergies – she wouldn’t be able to shake the sight of his humongous swollen hands and ‘numb tongue’ – and McCoy was jabbing him liberally with multiple hypos to combat these effects, he had conveyed his meaning effectively, eyes spitting with practically religious fervor.

He’d saved Earth then. Despite being marooned on Delta Vega. Despite not being Captain and not having the support of anybody on the ship. Despite almost being strangled to death by Spock himself. And despite the doubt and the open hatred of the crew of the Enterprise. He’d overcome all the odds and rescued Pike, and saved the day.

That triumphant, gleeful gleam in those blue eyes of his when he surveyed the bridge as they finally managed to move away from the Narada as it was sucked into the black hole. The eyes were only momentarily gleeful, immediately moving to heartfelt relief. And for a moment, Uhura thought she’d glimpsed doubt and fear in them before he closed his eyes and blew out a long, shaky sigh.

And what had surprised her was his behavior immediately afterwards. After they were finally heading back to Earth, she had expected those eyes to be crowing, full of justified narcissism and knowing arrogance every time he looked at her, given her words to him after Spock had removed himself from duty, allowing Kirk to ascend to the Captaincy. Her cruel, mocking words, hoping that he knew what he was doing, and her insolence when addressing him as ‘Captain’. But instead, he had thrown himself into settling the Vulcan refugees on board, and working diligently with Mr Scott in Engineering, trying to hold the Enterprise together as they limped back to Earth with no warp capabilities. He’d seemed just at home in Engineering, taking Scotty’s orders and climbing around the engines, as he was giving orders on the bridge. And when they had arrived back on Earth and the Federation press had been given free reign to interview the heroes of the Enterprise, especially Acting Captain Kirk himself, Jim had given completely impersonal interviews, stating the facts that they were allowed to talk about, downplaying his role, praising the effectiveness of the crew working together to solve a problem, his eyes hooded and wary instead of warm and receptive of the open adoration from the members of the press.

Being the poster child, the hero of the Battle of Vulcan and the Savior of Earth, he accepted the publicity with a reluctance that seemed completely at odds with his need for recognition and to be the top cadet at the Academy. He was never rude, given Starfleet’s decision to milk their success for all that they could. But his eyes were remote and shuttered, and not the twinkling impish eyes that she’d been exposed to before this.

She’d wondered about his aloofness with the press, and why he wasn’t tooting his own horn. He’d been the top of his class at the Academy. Over time, Uhura would learn that Kirk was hardest on himself. His performance at the Academy was a compulsion – he _needed_ to be the best. Anything less was a failure in his own eyes. Uhura would respect his reasons and allow him his privacy, when she realized that Kirk’s relationship with the press went back a lot longer than she had first realized. 

When they started playing the holovid recordings of the tiny James Kirk, not much older than five or six years old, wearing a somber dark suit on the anniversary of his father’s death, only his shining golden hair and his distinctive blue eyes making him recognizable, speaking solemnly. Sound bites included things that he had said back then like: “my father’s a hero” and “I miss him very much” and “I hope to make him proud of me”, and then realizing that none of them, not one, had ever wished him a happy birthday, and that at five, James Kirk already knew that his birthday would never be important, not as important as the day that his father sacrificed himself to save the crew of the USS Kelvin.

And that statement, “I miss him very much” which was played over and over, along with the new soundbites from the hero of the Federation, now all grown up and clad in his Starfleet Academy reds made Uhura wonder. He’d been born on a shuttle on the day that his father went down with the Kelvin. How could a child miss what he’d never known?

And yet, the tiny Kirk had stood there, unflappable despite the thronging members of the press, answering questions with a strong yet adorably cute, high voice and steely eyes too old for his face, adding to the aura of strength that now surrounded the late George Kirk. If his son who’d been born in battle was so composed and already radiated an aura of command at so young an age, then what could his father have been had he lived to realize his full potential?

But everyone ignored what was standing before them. A child who was repeatedly asked about his dead father, a father he’d never even met. A child who was never made to feel special on his birthday because the day of his birth was a day of mourning. Then, Uhura understood why Kirk needed to be the best. Because anything less really wouldn’t be enough, not to the masses who would judge him for being his father’s son, not caring that he was his own person. And that made her pity him which just wouldn’t do. Because he kept teasing her, and making her enjoy teasing him right back. And she really did prefer it when his eyes were warm and sparkling mischievously.

The asshole.

**Author's Note:**

> Again, my apologies if Uhura doesn't come across as Uhura. It is my first time writing her, and secondly, I don't write a lot of gen fic. :)
> 
> Hope it wasn't too bad.
> 
> I'll have Kirk's POV on his eyes in the next day or so. That's the last one in this series. 
> 
> Thanks!  
> -j  
> xoxo


End file.
